Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 12:15
Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
15. Seven days ] from the 15th to the 21st of the first month.
unleavened cakes ] See on v. 8. So vv. 17, 18, 20 (on v. 39, see note).
even ] rather, surely: cf. in the Heb. Exo 31:13, Lev 23:27; Lev 23:39, Num 1:49.
put away ] Heb. make to cease. The later Hebrews were very punctilious in carrying out this injunction; and even before the Passover (which was also eaten with unleavened cakes, v. 8), the house was elaborately searched with candles in order to discover and remove any ‘leaven’ (i.e. fermented dough, or certain articles made of fermented grain: see EB. iii. 2753) that might be in it ( Pesim i. iii.). See an illustration of the search for leaven, from a drawing of 1725, in the Jewish Encyclopaedia, ix. 548; or, on a smaller scale, in Oesterley and Box, The Religion and Worship of the Synagogue (1907), p. 210.
leaven ] Heb. s e ’r, in practice (see Leaven in EB.; cf. i. 604), a piece of sour (i.e. fermented) dough, reserved for the purpose from the previous day’s baking.
Leaven was regarded as produced by corruption (cf. on Exo 23:18 a, and Plut. Quaest. Rom. 109 ‘Now leaven is itself the offspring of corruption, and corrupts the lump ( ) with which it is mixed’); and so in the NT. it becomes a figure of corrupt teaching or practice, Mat 16:6 (= Mar 8:15 = Luk 12:1), 11: St Paul twice quotes the saying, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump’ (1Co 5:6, Gal 5:9), with reference to moral corruption: and in 1Co 5:7-8, with evident reference to the injunction here, bids Christians ‘clear away the old leaven,’ and ‘keep the feast’ of their Passover, Christ (i.e. live the Christian life), with the ‘unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’
that soul shall be cut off from Israel ] a formula, with slight variations (as he or that man for that soul; and from his father’s kin or from the congregation for from Israel), very common in P: v. 19, Gen 17:14, Exo 30:37-38; Exo 31:14, Lev 7:20-21; Lev 7:25; Lev 7:27; Lev 17:4; Lev 17:9; Lev 18:29; Lev 19:8; Lev 20:17-18; Lev 22:3; Lev 23:29, Num 9:13; Num 15:30-31; Num 19:13; Num 19:20 (cf. with the first person, I will cut off , Lev 17:10; Lev 20:3; Lev 20:5-6 ; I will destroy , Lev 23:30 ). The offence for which this is the penalty is usually neglect of some ceremonial observance, and only occasionally a moral offence, or idolatry. The punishment intended is not death by the civil power (which would be out of the question in many of the cases in which ‘cutting off’ is prescribed, and which is moreover denoted regularly by the formula, ‘shall be put to death’), but excommunication (cf. Ezr 10:8), combined with a threat of divine interposition to root out the evil-doer, as is clear from the variants in which the first person is used (Di. on Gen 17:14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Cut off – The penalty inflicted on those who transgressed the command may be accounted for on the ground that it was an act of rebellion; but additional light is thrown upon it by the typical meaning assigned to leaven by our Lord, Mat 16:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 12:15-19
The feast of unleavened bread.
The feast of unleavened bread; or, the ordinances of God, and the manner in which they should be observed
The feast of unleavened bread was a distinct ordinance from the Passover, though following immediately upon it. At this feast the Israelites were to eat unleavened bread; probably to commemorate the fact that they had left Egypt in such haste that they had no opportunity to leaven their dough, and were consequently obliged to eat unleavened cakes. It would also remind them of the power of God in bringing them out of Egypt when they were without provision for their journey, and it would teach them a lesson of trust in the Divine providence. This feast was an ordinance of God. We observe in reference to it–
I. That the ordinances of God are clearly made known and enjoined upon man.
1. Divinely authorized.
2. Morally beneficial.
3. Wofully neglected.
This neglect is prevalent; it is fearful; it is inexcusable; it is morally injurious; it will ultimately meet with its due punishment.
II. That the ordinances of God are to be observed in a spirit and temper free from sin.
1. In a spirit free from hypocrisy.
2. In a spirit free from malice and bitterness.
3. The home-life must be in sympathy with Gods ordinances.
What we are at home we shall be in the ordinances of God. The home-life and the ordinary worship are inseparable; they are part of the same service, and must be pure.
III. That the ordinances of God are to be observed with solemnity and propreity of moral conduct and demeanor.
IV. That those who profane the ordinances of God are unworthy of them, and should be denied the privilege of them. That soul shall be cut off from Israel. Lessons:
1. That there are in connection with the Church of God many ordinances to be observed by men.
2. That these ordinances should be observed with due solemnity and appropriate conduct.
3. That neglect of these ordinances is disobedience to the command of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread] This has been considered as a distinct ordinance, and not essentially connected with the passover. The passover was to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month; the feast of unleavened bread began on the fifteenth and lasted seven days, the first and last of which were holy convocations.
That soul shall be cut off] There are thirty-six places in which this excision or cutting off is threatened against the Jews for neglect of some particular duty; and what is implied in the thing itself is not well known. Some think it means a violent death, some a premature death, and some an eternal death. It is very likely that it means no more than a separation from the rights and privileges of an Israelite; so that after this excision the person was considered as a mere stranger, who had neither lot nor part in Israel, nor any right to the blessings of the covenant. This is probably what St. Paul means, Ro 9:3. But we naturally suppose this punishment was not inflicted but on those who had showed a marked and obstinate contempt for the Divine authority. This punishment appears to have been nearly the same with excommunication among the Christians; and from this general notion of the cutting off, the Christian excommunication seems to have been borrowed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Seven days, besides and after the day of eating the passover, which was a distinct feast, and no part of the feast of unleavened bread,
shall ye eat unleavened bread, to remind them of their departure out of Egypt, which was so sudden that they had not leisure to leaven their dough. See Poole on “Exo 12:8“.
That soul shall be cut off, either by excommunication, or by death to be inflicted by the magistrate, and, in case of his neglect, by God himself. Nor let any one think that this was too severe a punishment for what may seem no great offence. For this was indeed a very great crime, being a manifest contempt of God, and a rebellion against Gods authority and express command, which surely deserves as severe a punishment as is inflicted upon rebels against their prince, especially considering that the Israelites were the people and subjects of God in a peculiar manner. It was also a tacit renunciation of their religion, and of the covenant of God with them, and of their interest both in that past deliverance out of Egypt, and in the future deliverance by the Messias. See Poole on “Gen 17:14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. Seven days shall ye eatunleavened bread, &c.This was to commemorate anothercircumstance in the departure of the Israelites, who were urged toleave so hurriedly that their dough was unleavened (Ex12:39), and they had to eat unleavened cakes (De16:3). The greatest care was always taken by the Jews to freetheir houses from leaventhe owner searching every corner of hisdwelling with a lighted candle. A figurative allusion to this is made(1Co 5:7). The exclusion ofleaven for seven days would not be attended with inconvenience in theEast, where the usual leaven is dough kept till it becomes sour, andit is kept from one day to another for the purpose of preservingleaven in readiness. Thus even were there none in all the country, itcould be got within twenty-four hours [HARMER].
that soul shall be cutoffexcommunicated from the community and privileges of thechosen people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread,…. From the evening of the fourteenth day to the evening of the twenty first; and this was a distinct festival from what was properly called the feast of the passover, and does not respect the first passover in Egypt; for though the passover lamb was eaten with unleavened bread, and the Israelites ate no other, not only for seven days, but for thirty days following; yet this was not only by the divine command, but through necessity, they having no other bread to eat; but in later times they were commanded to keep a feast for seven days, in which they were not to eat leavened bread, in commemoration of their hasty departure out of Egypt, not having time to leaven the dough in their troughs, and of their distress and want of savoury bread:
even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; out of their dwelling houses, which were to be diligently searched for that purpose, and every hole and crevice in them; and not only their lower rooms, their dining rooms and parlours, but their upper rooms and bedchambers; because it was possible a man might sometimes go into them with a piece of bread in his hand, and drop or leave some of it behind him: yea, synagogues and schools were to be searched, since children might carry thither leavened breads i: and this search was to be made by the light of a lamp or candle, not by the light of the moon, if in the night; nor by the light of the sun, if in the day, but by the light of a lamp or candle, and not by the light of a torch, or of a lump of fat, or grease, or oil, but by a lamp or candle of wax k: and this search was to be made at the beginning of the night of the fourteenth of Nisan; yea, it is said that leavened bread was forbidden from the seventh hour of the day, that is, one o’clock in the afternoon and upwards, which is the middle of the day l: the account of the Misnic doctors is m,
“R. Meir says, that they may eat leaven the whole fifth hour, i.e. eleven o’clock in the morning, and burn it the beginning of the sixth, or twelve o’clock; R. Judah says, they may eat it all the fourth hour, or tenth o’clock, and suspend it the whole fifth hour, and burn it the beginning of the sixth:”
for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day; from the first of the seven days to the last of them, beginning at the night at the fourteenth, and ending at the night of the twenty first:
that soul shall be cut off from Israel; either from the commonwealth of Israel, and be disfranchised, and not accounted as an Israelite; or from the Israelitish church state, and have no communion in it, or partake of the ordinances at it; or if it is to be understood of cutting off by death, it is either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or by the immediate hand of God; and is sometimes by the Jews interpreted of a man dying either without children, or before he is fifty years of age, and some even understand it of destruction of soul and body, or of eternal damnation.
i Lebush, par. 1. No. 433. sect. 1. 3. 10. Schulcan Aruch, par. 1. No. 433. sect. 3. 10. k Lebush & Schulcan ib. sect. 1. l Lebush & Schulcan No. 431. sect. 1. m Misn. Pesach c. 1. sect. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15. Whosoever eateth leavened bread. This law specially refers to the keeping of the Passover. God had before forbidden the use of leaven; and He now enacts the punishment to be inflicted, if any should neglect the prohibition, and mingle leaven with the Paschal feast. But it is not without reason that we have postponed to this place what Moses has joined together with the institution of the Passover; for the plan proposed by us demands that the political laws, which sanction God’s worship by the denunciation of punishments, should occupy their peculiar place. From the punishment it appears that, although it may be in itself a trifling matter to abstain from leaven, (as Paul teaches that “bodily exercise profiteth little,” 1Ti 4:8,) yet, inasmuch as in this ceremony the redemption of the people was kept in memory, it was a very gross crime not to observe whatever God had prescribed, for we must estimate the importance of the rites of the law from their object. (69)
(69) “ Selon leur fin, et leur verite.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) Seven days.The division of time into periods of seven days each was unknown to the more ancient Egyptians, but is thought to have existed in Babylonia as early as B.C. 2000. That it was recognised in the family of Abraham appears from Gen. 29:27. According to some, God established the division by an express command to our first parents in Paradise that they should keep the seventh day holy (see Gen. 2:3); but this is greatly questioned by others, who regard Gen. 2:3 as anticipatory, and think the Sabbath was not instituted until the giving of the manna (Exo. 16:23). However this may have been, it is generally allowed that the Israelites had not observed the seventh day in Egypt. where, indeed, they were held to labour continually. and that the Sabbath as an actual observance dates from the Exodus. The injunction here given, if it belongs to the time of the tenth plague, would be the first preliminary note of warning with respect to the Sabbath, raising an expectation of it, and preparing the way for it, leading up to the subsequent revelations in the wilderness of Sin and at Sinai.
Ye shall put away leaven out of your houses.There was to be no compromise, nothing resembling half measures. Leaven, taken as typical of corruption, was to be wholly put away, not allowed by any householder to lurk anywhere within his housea solemn warning that we are to make no compromise with sin.
That soul shall be cut off from Israel.See the Note on Gen. 17:14.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Seven days Through the sacred cycle of days they were to learn the lessons taught by the “bread of affliction . ”
That soul shall be cut off Excommunicated from the sacred body, since such a soul cast off God’s covenant with the covenant sign . The modern Jews make the unleavened bread in thin dry biscuits . They are exceedingly scrupulous to cleanse, at this time, the whole house, searching every dark corner with candles lest a crumb of leavened bread should anywhere be found when this feast begins. Great care is taken that all the vessels in which it is made be perfectly clean, and that it bake rapidly, lest the least fermentation take place.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Instructions Concerning the Later Feast of Unleavened Bread ( Exo 12:15-20 ).
These instructions had the future in mind. They would not be in their houses in order to observe it in Egypt, although it may well have been a feast that they previously observed. But now it was to be directly connected with the Passover, and with the haste in which they left Egypt.
a They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and on the first day put all unleavened bread out of their houses, for whoever eats unleavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel (Exo 12:15).
b On the first day was to be a holy gathering and on the seventh day was to be a holy gathering, and no manner of work was to be done except what a man must eat (Exo 12:16).
c The feast of unleavened bread was to be observed on the selfsame day as Yahweh brought their hosts out of Egypt (Exo 12:17 a).
c Which is why they will observe this day throughout their generations by an ordinance for ever (Exo 12:17 b).
b On the first month, on the fourteenth day in the evening they were to eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day in the evening (Exo 12:18).
a For seven days no leaven was to be found in their houses , for whoever ate what was leavened, that person was to be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether a resident alien or one born in the land. Nothing leavened was to be eaten. In all their dwellings they must eat unleavened bread (Exo 12:19-20).
We note in ‘a’ the parallels. In both the feast was to be for seven days when there was to be no leaven, and any who ate of unleavened bread was to be cut off from among the people. In the former the leaven is to be put out of their houses, and in the latter they must eat unleavened bread in all their houses. In ‘b’ we have the mention in both, in different ways, of the first and the seventh day, described in the parallel as the fourteenth and twenty first day. In ‘c’ the day to be celebrated is stressed in both cases.
Exo 12:15
“Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh that person shall be cut off from Israel.”
The earlier patriarchal family tribe under Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would certainly have observed a number of feasts (for example the sheep shearing – see on Gen 31:19), and as they produced crops this would have included a celebration of the beginning of the barley harvest which, in Canaan, would have taken place at this time of the year. It is probable that these feasts had been continued in Egypt, as part of their tradition, to retain a connection with their roots. But it would be linked to something else, so that, apart from the connection with unleavened bread, a seven day feast may already have been observed at this time. Such customs are notoriously tenacious even over long periods of time.
But this time the deliverance would not give the children of Israel time to leaven their bread (Exo 12:34; Exo 12:37). Thus from this time on this feast, which had in Canaan been connected with the beginning of the barley harvest, (and would be again), but in Egypt was probably connected with some other reason for celebration, was to be observed with unleavened bread to remind them of their deliverance from Egypt. It would be a feast to which all the children of Israel gathered. This feast is now given a special meaning and connected with the Passover, although shown as a distinctive feast. (Notice how the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are dealt with separately in Exo 12:43-49 and Exo 13:3-9. Later they would be seen as one as a result of the passage of time, but that is not yet).
“Seven days.” A divinely perfect period. We do not know whether at this stage the children of Israel observed the ‘seven day week’ as we know it. Probably not for no mention is made of the institution of the weekly Sabbath until Exodus 16. But it would be wrong to assume that ‘seven days’ necessarily anywhere indicates a recognised week. ‘Seven days’ was commonly recognised as a sacred period not necessarily directly connected to the calendar, for the number seven had a sacred significance throughout the Near East. Thus the Babylonian flood story had a seven day flood. But they did not have a seven day week. The Philistines held a seven day wedding feast (Jdg 14:17) but did not observe the Sabbath. And while this seven day period begins and ends with a sabbath, these sabbaths were not what came to be the regular Sabbath.
“You shall eat unleavened bread (cakes).” This is bread (plural) made from dough to which yeast had not been introduced, baked in the form of flat cakes. The initial significance of this in context was that they would go in haste without leaving time for the bread to be leavened (Exo 12:34; Exo 12:39). Thus the feast would be a continual reminder of that hasty departure. But it probably also gained a new significance from the fact that leaven had a ‘corrupting’ influence on the dough, unleavened bread thus signifying the necessity for purity. The escape from Egypt rescued them from the leaven of Egypt, the corrupting influence of Egypt, and their being united in the covenant was intended to deliver them from the leaven of sin. It thus continued to indicate deliverance from the world’s influence and from sin.
“The first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses.” All leaven had to be removed from each house so that only unleavened bread remained. We are probably justified in seeing in this a picture of the need for the removal of all corrupting tendencies from the lives of partakers.
“Whoever eats — that person shall be cut off from Israel.” Unity with Jacob (Israel) in the covenant of Yahweh requires obedience to the demands of the covenant God. Thus to deliberately partake of leavened bread during the seven day period would be to signify an unwillingness to belong to the covenant community, and would result in removal from ‘the congregation of Israel’. Such a person might even, at this stage, be put to death (Num 15:27-36). To have become a member of the covenant was a serious matter. But being ‘cut off’ may simply indicate expulsion.
Exo 12:16
“And on the first day there shall be for you a holy gathering, and on the seventh day a holy gathering, no manner of work shall be done in them except what every man must eat, that only may be done for you.”
The seven day period was to begin on day one and end on day seven with both days being observed as days of rest from labour, apart from that necessary for the feast. They were holy days. On these days they would gather for feasting and worship. They were days set apart for God later to become known as ‘sabbaths’. Thus such set apart days (both the first and the last of the seven) were to be seen as times when no work must be done. This was to be as a reminder of the bondage that had been theirs in Egypt. The idea of a seventh day sabbath would later develop into a regular Sabbath day every seven days (Exo 16:5; Exo 16:23; Exo 16:25; Exo 16:29-30; Exo 20:8-11), a sign that they were continually His free people, provided for by Him. But they would not have been able to observe such a regular Sabbath in Egypt. Thus after the regular Sabbath was instituted there could in the feast of unleavened bread be three sabbaths, the day one sabbath, the day seven sabbath, and the regular Sabbath.
Exo 12:17
“And you shall observe the Mazzoth (unleavened bread). For on this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.”
From this day on the first day of this feast would be a reminder of their being freed from slavery. As they ceased from work they would remember how they had been freed from slavery in Egypt. So from this day on the fifteenth day of Abib was a day set apart, a day on which the Passover would be eaten (having been killed on the fourteenth between the two evenings) and as a day of cessation from labour.
12:18-20
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month when evening comes, you will eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day in the evening. Seven days there will be no leaven in your houses, for whoever eats what is leavened that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or one born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”
The details are now repeated so that the listeners are reminded of them. (In the first place Moses and Aaron, but finally all who listen to this account read out at a feast). The ban on unleavened bread begins on the fourteenth day of the month as the next evening approaches and the Passover lamb is killed, and goes on until the end of the twenty first day, a period of just over seven days.
“Whether he be a sojourner or one born in the land.” This is looking forward to the ideal day when the land promised to their fathers, and to them in Exo 3:8, finally belongs to them in its totality. All would know of the land that God had promised to give to the seed of Abraham (Gen 13:15 etc.). This was confirmation that these promises were to be fulfilled in the not too distant future. Then every one in that land, whether born there, or living there having been born elsewhere, will be subject to these regulations. This is a message of hope for it guarantees that they are to receive the land promised to their fathers. God has promised that He is delivering them so as to give them the land (Exo 3:8). This is spoken in anticipation of, and guarantee of, that day. Their inheritance is guaranteed to them on this their day of deliverance.
“In all your dwellings.” Every household among the people will be involved.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 12:15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread In consequence of this command, the Jews searched with the utmost diligence the evening before the passover, that there might not be the least leaven, or leavened bread, remaining in their houses. They were to continue in the use of unleavened bread seven days; because it is computed, that their deliverance was completed on the seventh day after their exit from Egypt, when Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Red-sea; see ch. Exo 14:30. Of these days, the first and the seventh were to be held peculiarly sacred; there was to be a holy convocation on them; that is, a calling together, or assembling, for the purposes of Divine worship, Num 2:10.
Be cut off from Israel That is, (as some suppose,) shall no longer be esteemed an Israelite, or be admitted into the privileges of my covenant with this people, (Exo 12:10.) whether he be a native-born Israelite, or a stranger, who, by the reception of circumcision, has been proselyted to the Jewish religion. See Gen 17:14.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This precept is again repeated to intimate its importance. Exo_13:6; Exo_23:15; Exo_34:18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 12:15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
Ver. 15. Ye shall put away leaven. ] All unsoundness in point of faith, and insincerity in point of practice. See Trapp on “ 1Co 5:7 “ The Jews, at this day, on the night before their passover, search and sweep every mouse hole for crumbs of leaven with wax candles. If they find none, they purposely fling down some, that they might not seem to have prayed and laboured in vain.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
leaven = fermented bread. First occurance. See App-38. until. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch and The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, read “and until”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Exo 12:15-28
The inmate of the house did not see the sprinkled blood. It was not necessary to be always going forth to look at it. It was clearly not a matter for his emotion or his intelligence. It was an accomplished fact, and it was enough for God to see it: When I see the blood I will pass over. Abide thou in Christ. It is not necessary to try to understand, or feel; just be quiet and trust the finished work and the sworn promise of God. He hath said: Whosoever believeth shall not perish. The Lamb slain is in the middle of the throne; it is enough.
Let us keep the feast, not with the leavened bread of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Remember that you must put away all ferment, and all that partakes of disease, decay, or death that God may be able to tarry in the house of your life, and be your fellow-pilgrim in the march of life.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Seven: Exo 12:8, Exo 13:6, Exo 13:7-10, Exo 23:15, Exo 34:18, Exo 34:25, Lev 23:5-8, Num 28:17, Deu 16:3, Deu 16:5, Deu 16:8, Mat 16:12, Luk 12:1, Act 12:3
that soul: Exo 12:19, Exo 12:20, Exo 31:14, Gen 17:14, Lev 17:10, Lev 17:14, Num 9:13, Mal 2:12, Gal 5:12
Reciprocal: Gen 19:3 – unleavened Exo 12:18 – General Exo 13:3 – there Exo 23:18 – blood Exo 29:30 – seven days Exo 30:20 – die not Exo 30:33 – cut off Lev 7:21 – cut off Lev 17:4 – be cut off Lev 18:29 – General Lev 23:6 – General Deu 16:4 – there shall 2Ch 30:21 – the feast 2Ch 35:17 – the feast Ezr 6:22 – the feast Mat 16:6 – the leaven Luk 6:1 – the second Act 20:6 – the days 1Co 5:7 – Purge 1Co 5:8 – let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Directions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread 12:15-20
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began with the Passover meal and continued for seven more days (Exo 12:15). The bread that the Jews used contained no leaven (yeast), which made it like a cracker rather than cake in its consistency. The Old Testament uses leaven as a symbol of sin often. Leaven gradually permeates dough, and it affects every part of the dough. Here it not only reminded the Israelites in later generations that their ancestors fled Egypt in haste, before their dough could rise. It also reminded them that their lives should resemble the unleavened bread as redeemed people. Bread is the staff of life and represents life. The life of the Israelites was to be separate from sin since they had received new life as a result of God’s provision of the Passover lamb. Eating unleavened bread for a week and removing all leaven from their houses would have impressed the necessity of a holy life upon the Israelites.
"For us the leaven must stand for the selfness which is characteristic of us all, through the exaggerated instinct of self-preservation and the heredity received through generations, which have been a law to themselves, serving the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We are by nature self-confident, self-indulgent, self-opinionated; we live with self as our goal, and around the pivot of I our whole being revolves." [Note: Meyer, pp. 138-39.]
Anyone who refused to abide by these rules repudiated the spiritual lesson contained in the symbols and was therefore "cut off from Israel." This phrase means to experience separation from the rights and privileges of the nation through excommunication or, more often, death. [Note: Cf. Keil and Delitzsch, 1:224; and Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus, pp. 241-2.]
"Playing fast and loose with God’s prescribed practices is to show disrespect for God’s honor and dignity." [Note: Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, p. 466.]
The Israelites celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth of Abib, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread continued through the twenty-first (Exo 12:18). God’s call to the Israelites to live holy lives arose from what God had done for them. Consecration follows redemption; it is not a prerequisite for redemption. Similarly God calls us to be holy in view of what He has done for us (cf. Rom 12:1-2). He does not say we can experience redemption if we become holy first.
Sunset ended one day and began the next for the Jews (cf. Gen 1:5; et al.).